Planned Trump border wall near Texas national park could create flooding risk, suit says [View all]
Source: The Independent
Friday 19 June 2026 21:12 EDT
Trump administration plans to build parts of the border wall near Big Bend National Park could expose a small town to “potentially devastating” flooding, a federal lawsuit argues.
The suit, filed Wednesday by the municipal development district of Presidio, Texas, against the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, claims that the administration plans to replace an existing earthen levee protecting the area with segments of the 30-foot-tall concrete border wall.
“If not properly planned and carried out, construction on the federal flood-control works in Presidio could compromise their integrity and leave the region vulnerable to deadly flash floods capable of destroying infrastructure, homes, farmland, and agriculture,” the suit claims.
The district argues the Trump administration has begun handing out millions of dollars in contracts for wall construction in the area, moving forward without getting proper permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to alter a federal water control project under the Rivers and Harbors Act. In 2008, the binational International Boundary and Water Commission invested millions of dollars into a flood control system around Presidio, after Tropical Depression Lowell caused mass flooding in the area and homes were filled with up to 10 feet of water, prompting the governor to make a disaster declaration.
Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/border-wall-big-bend-texas-flooding-b2999361.html
Link to SUIT (PDF) - https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/PMDD-v-DHS-Complaint-.pdf
RELATED
Link to Rep. Doggett PRESS RELEASE - Rep. Doggett Condemns Trump's Attempt to Waive Environmental Protections in Big Bend National Park
Link to Congressional LETTER (PDF) - https://doggett.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/doggett-evo.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/quill-letter-l37359-oppose-environmental-waivers-in-big-bend-nps-version-2-06-16-2026-10-44-am.pdf
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